Politicians need to own mistakes and apologize

It was a hot mid-August day in 1979. School hadn’t started, but football had. Sweat trickled down my back as I struggled to make a no window, tiny, drab space come alive. The room remained dead, and I was dead tired.

Just as I was going out, I almost collided with the superintendent coming in. I’d met him once, and I had no desire in a sweat soaked shirt to meet him again.

“I’m glad I caught you. I was wondering if you’d run the scoreboard for the game on Friday.”

I froze. As a first-year teacher, I wanted to please everyone, especially my new boss. “Sure, I can,” I stammered.

I was prepared to teach English and reading, but I wasn’t prepared in scoreboard. The college education department neglected mentioning extracurricular teacher duties. I was trapped.

I knew plots and themes, not Xs and Os.

I was lost.

I’m sure It was the first football game where fans from both teams booed the scoreboard operator. It was a public disaster. My teaching career was terminal, and school hadn’t started.

After the game, the superintendent slowly climbed the press box stairs. I heard every step. Before he could fire me, I admitted. “I should have told you I didn’t have a clue about running a scoreboard. I’m so sorry. I did a horrible job.”

“It’s not the end of the world. We’ll get someone else. Thanks for trying,” he said.

I relearned a huge lesson on a hot August night. My parents had preached, “If you hurt someone or make a mistake, own it by saying you’re sorry.”

Politicians from both political parties need to learn this lesson. Granted, their mistakes are more public and bigger than a first-year teacher’s scoreboard incompetence. But too many have forgotten how to own mistakes and apologize.

President Joe Biden made a mistake. He was a great first term president, but he should have passed the torch to the winner of a Democratic primary. He waited too long. Biden was like an aging athlete wanting one more season, but one more season would have meant four more grueling years in the hardest job in the world.

While I don’t believe he was in some dementia fog, he was in denial. He should own his mistake to protect his legacy.

But It’s also ironic and absurd that 91-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley is now investigating Biden’s “cognitive decline.” Grassley should admit his mistake and focus on the present.

Sen. Joni Ernst was on the hot seat at a town hall. Instead of trying to cool the temperature by owning Medicaid cuts in the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” she lashed out with her now infamous comment, “We’re all going to die.”

The only thing worse than no apology is a sarcastic one talking down to voters. That’s what Ernst did walking through a cemetery. Even now, she should own her mistake and sincerely apologize. Americans love a redemption story.

Not apologizing is part of the Donald Trump brand. He claims he favors legal immigration. But unleashing ICE on undocumented immigrants attempting to follow the law at their immigration check ins is a major deterrent for following the law. It’s a mistake that Trump needs to own. His base would grumble, but the majority would applaud.

Some Democrats fear confronting Trump about deportations. They maintain it plays into his political wheelhouse. But if Democrats won’t stand up for due process, they’re willing to stand for anything. Own the mistake.

It’s not about red or blue. It’s about right and wrong.

I survived my public mistake and taught for 11 years. Everyone makes mistakes. How those mistakes are handled determines if they’re fatal or forgiven.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to public schools for 38 years. He taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until he retired. BruceLear2419@gmail.com